Page 43 - Waste-to-Energy in the Danube Strategy Region. Challenges and Prospects

3.2 Waste generation & intensity

Implementation of WtE processes of course necessitates the availability of the required feedstock.

In calculating the estimated gap in WtE capacities in the DSR countries in the previous section, it
was assumed that waste generation would remain stable through 2035. As discussed above,

however, the validity of such assumption is impacted by various factors. In this section we present

some basic data regarding waste generation in order to get a better picture of developments in
the DSR countries in this area.

Looking at the absolute values of MSW generated in individual countries over a 10-year

period from 2007 to 2016 (see Figure 6) a generally stable trend is apparent in most countries.

There are, of course, exceptions. Both Hungary and Romania showed a significant decline until
2011 after which point MSW generation has relatively stabilized, while Serbia shows almost the

opposite trend, with MSW generation increasing until 2011 and declining thereafter. Bulgaria, on

the other hand, is characterized by a clear and consistent declining trend over the full period. The

7
remaining countries display rather flat and stable trends, with Czech Republic, Germany and
Slovakia showing moderate growth.

7 Germany has significantly higher absolute levels of waste generation (nearly six times more than Romania) and was therefore
not included in the figure as doing so would have skewed the graph drastically. Likewise, while using log 10 would have resolved
this issue, the trend lines would also have been skewed in such a way to make them less representative.
Project co-funded by the European Union
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